Chapter 5 of 18 · 3'30"
Woodward meets Deep Throat in a parking garage and gets the film's most quoted piece of advice. The surface is the myths around the White House; underneath is how power actually works. "Follow the money" is all Deep Throat will say, then he adds that his source stays hidden and that he will confirm whatever Woodward brings him.
The Story Is Dry
Deep Throat Says Follow the Money
A reporter parks in a dark garage and a source steps out of the shadows. Deep Throat dismisses the myths around the White House, says the men behind Watergate are not very bright and that things got out of hand, then hands over one instruction: follow the money. He refuses to name a source or a place, but offers to confirm what the reporter learns.
Deep Throat never gives Woodward a fact he could not verify alone, and that is the point of the exchange. "You tell me what you know, and I'll confirm," he says, which turns the reporter into the one who has to take the risk. The advice itself is a method: "Follow the money." While the newsroom is stuck saying "All we've got are pieces," this single line gives the investigation a direction. Notice what Deep Throat withholds: when Woodward asks where, the answer is "I can't tell you that," and when Woodward points out the loophole, he gets "No, I have to do this my way." The scene is less a reveal than a set of rules.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“We can't seem to figure out what the puzzle is supposed to look like.”
It turns a reporter's confusion into a puzzle with no picture, making the dead end vivid.
Neutral
“Somebody said, "What's the trick?" And Liddy said, "The trick is not minding."”
It reframes endurance as a skill, so the line sounds like a creed rather than a complaint.
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“You tell me what you know, and I'll confirm.”
It lays out the bargain of a source and a reporter: you give what you know, I verify it.
Neutral
“All we've got are pieces.”
He admits the picture is unfinished and still treats the fragments as reason to keep digging.
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Up next · 06get to someone beforeThe scene: Woodward Finds the Dahlberg CheckHe says he has to do it his way and will only keep Woodward pointed in the right direction, so the reporter still has to verify everything himself.
He means the money trail will show who paid for the break-in. It is the only lead he gives, and it points the investigation at the campaign funds.
They only have pieces and cannot see the whole puzzle yet, which is why Deep Throat's one-line advice matters so much.
Dardis heads the Miami investigation into whether the burglars broke Florida law, and Bernstein's appointment is the next step in tracing the money.
